Newtown's Dawn Hochsprung and Victoria Soto to Be Buried Wednesday

Funerals are set for the principal and teacher, beloved and remembered as heroes

Photo: AP; Polaris

Newtown, Conn., saw six more funerals and remembrances on Wednesday, including services for the beloved Dawn Hochsprung, Sandy Hook Elementary School’s principal, who lunged at her assassin, and heroic teacher Victoria Soto, who tried to shield her students as the bullets were flying.

Wednesday afternoon, mourners had a chance to pay respects to Hochsprung at a local funeral home, at the invitation of her family. Her burial will be private.

Daniel Barden, 7, was the first to be buried on Wednesday. The smiley, gap-toothed redhead was described to AP by his mom’s co-worker as the type of child “parents want their kids around: warm and wonderful and caring and kind.”

To pay respects to the young aspiring firefighter, many in the profession from as far away as New York City came out to honor Barden. The funeral took place at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Newtown.

Caroline Previdi, 6, was also remembered at the same church as Barden. According to reports, the victim’s mother Sandy Previdi called her daughter a “precious angel” during the memorial.

The inside of the church was covered in pink to honor the slain child’s favorite color. Men wore pink ties to show their support.

Caroline’s grandfather recently told PEOPLE his granddaughter “was a bouncy kid” who loved to draw and play soccer.

A funeral was also scheduled for Charlotte Bacon, 6. The family of Chase Kowalski, 7, is holding a public visitation and prayer vigil.

Surviving Sandy Hook students face another day of school at the unused Chalk Hill School in nearby Monroe, Conn. At the Sandy Hook school itself, the mountain of candles, flowers and stuffed animals continued to grow, despite rainy weather.

The shock of what happened Friday, and the nearly insurmountable grief that has followed, looks to be having a tangible impact on the nation.

President Obama, who personally embraced Newtown families on Sunday, has assigned Vice President Joe Biden the task of formulating the administration’s policies to reduce violence and prevent mass-shootings like the one that took 26 lives at Sandy Hook Elementary School, administration officials told ABC News.

The officials also said the President additionally wishes to address cultural and mental health factors contributions to the mounting gun violence in the country.

On Tuesday, reports Reuters, the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP said it would sell its investment in the company that makes the AR-15-type Bushmaster rifle that Sandy Hook killer Adam Lanza used on 20 students and six staff members.

In addition, for the first time since the massacre, the National Rifle Association, broke its silence on Tuesday, saying it was “shocked, saddened and heartbroken” and “prepared to offer meaningful contributions” to prevent future incidents of this kind.

The powerful gun lobby plans a news conference Friday.